News
The impact of the second wave of the COVID-19 on global employment
The #G20 #Labour20 in coordination with Prince Sultan University’s Global SME Policy Network (GSPN) Webinar on "The Impact of the Second Wave of #COVID19 on Global Employment" held on 4 November 2020, I had the honour of engaging some amazing panelists including: Professor Vaughan Scott, Professor Mohammad Nurunnabi CMA, SFHEA, FRSA, FAIA(Acad), CMBE, and Professor Gabriel Puron-Cid. Ms. Gabriella Kusz (Global Public Policy and Program Management, Chicago, United States; GSPN) was the moderator of the session. G20 Call to Action which notes that "the COVID crisis is a wake-up call to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable and inclusive global economy and achieve the United Nations’ SDGs. Business and Government both have a role to play and must rise to the occasion." Prof. Mohammad Nurunnabi highlighted that the global cooperation is imperative to overcome the challenges.
PSU Signed an Agreement with L20 as part of G20 and Saudi National Committee of Workers Committees (SNC)
On 20 October 2020, Prince Sultan University’s (PSU) Global SME Policy Network (GSPN) signed an agreement with the L20 and Saudi National Committee of Workers Committees (SNC). The President of the PSU, Dr Ahmed Yamani welcomed the delegates from the L20. The higher management of PSU also presented in this ceremony - Dr. Saad Al-Rwaita, Vice President, Administrative and Financial Affairs, Dr. Abdelhafez Feda, Vice President, Academic Affairs, Dr. Mohammad Al-Misher, Deputy Vice President, Academic Affairs, and Dr. Heba Khoshaim, Deputy Vice President, Female Campus and Vice Dean, DAR.
A global think tank is helping policy makers tackle the impact of COVID-19 on SMEs.
Businesses around the globe have been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, causing many governments to step in with stimulus packages to help them survive. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable and as many as 50% could close within the next three months. The International Labour Organization (ILO) also calls attention to the implications of the crisis on businesses, particularly SMEs, warning that without intervention half of the global workforce could lose their livelihoods.
CNBC Arabia - Dr. Mohammad Nurunnabi
In this interview, Dr Mohammad Nurunnabi explained that the Saudi Arabia’s government has announced a set of urgent initiatives (a total of 142 initiatives as of 2 July) to support individuals, private sector enterprises and investors, with a value exceeding SR214 billion. The government has provided significant efforts and stimulus package to keep stable employment and small and medium business. The majority of the companies were satisfied with the stimulus packages announced by the government. The other countries should continuously evaluate the SME impact due to the COVID-19 and continue the support based on the evaluation report like Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom seeks to support the SME sector by improving the economic environment and looking for possible ways to increase its contribution to GDP, diversifying sources of income and expanding the kingdom's production base in order to achieve the goals that the Kingdom seeks to achieve and the role of SMEs in economic transformation and Vision 2030. The Kingdom is working to increase the contribution of SMEs to GDP from 20% to 35%.